1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method using a modified new form of hyperthermia for treating cancerous tumors and multi-site or diffuse cancers.
2. Description of Related Art
As is known in the art, the use of hyperthermia to treat tumors can be effective in causing necrosis of cancer cells by a process called coagulative necrosis. However this process exhibits very little selectivity since cancerous cells are only slightly more vulnerable than normal cells to hyperthermia. As a result, a conventional hyperthermia process is impractical where there are both normal and abnormal cells present.
It has been the object of known methods and apparatus using conventional sources of applied energy such as microwave energy, radio frequency energy (RF heating), magnetic heating, interstitial laser fiber heating and ultrasonic energy to precisely match the focus of the applied energy within the cancerous tumor. Such tumors are spatially confined and can be so targeted. This is considered very important in an attempt to minimize the destruction of nearby normal cells. A disadvantage of such methods and apparatus is that they will be ineffective in treating cancer cells which may have spread throughout an organ or into neighboring lymph nodes. In addition, such directed heat methods are of no use in treating diffuse or multi-site cancers in which the cancer cells are intermingled with normal cells that should not be destroyed or removed.